


10. Opportunities

by djchika



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-27
Updated: 2013-04-27
Packaged: 2017-12-09 15:52:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/775996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/djchika/pseuds/djchika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years after Glee ended, Darren and Chris have a chance meeting in Paris.</p>
            </blockquote>





	10. Opportunities

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted January 27, 2013
> 
> Part of My Crisscolfer 100 Ficlet (Drabble) Challenge

The smell of freshly baked bread drew Darren from his seat outside a small café and into a nearby bakery. It was late afternoon and customers were scarce except for a young couple and a family of four who were obviously tourists.

Ignoring the chatter and the sound of the bell as another customer came in, Darren walked around, stopping every now and then to examine a pastry or a cookie. Baskets and trays of baked goods lined the walls, but it was a lonely baguette in a wicker basket that caught his eye. Darren picked up the baguette at the same time another customer picked up the loaf. He looked up to apologize and felt a familiar flutter in his chest when he realized who it was.

“Chris?”

The smile that greeted him was one that Darren hadn’t allowed himself to think about in a long time.

“I was going to let the homeless man have the last baguette, but then I realized it was you.” Chris teased, referring to the beard that Daren had let run wild.

Darren didn’t hesitate to envelope Chris in a hug. The warmth of the embrace seeped into him, soaking him with long forgotten memories.

“What are you doing here?” he asked when they finally parted. His eyes traveled over Chris’ body, noticing the way that his coat settled over his lithe frame, hands encased in gloves.

“On a vacation mostly,” Chris said. “I heard that’s what you were doing too, although my vacations usually end in a week. When was the last time you were home?”

Darren swallowed, forcing a casual shrug. “Seven months ago, I think?”

It was a lie. He knew the exact date he had decided to stay in Paris. It was the same night that he had received a text from Chris and an angry call from his manager.

Chris nodded, “So the last time you were home was-“

“-for your engagement party.”

He couldn’t look Chris in the eye. Instead he watched as Chris’ thumb instinctively rubbed at his ring finger.

“If I had known you were going to hole up in Paris, I might have decided to leave with you instead.”

Darren cocked his head inquisitively, finally looking up at Chris.

“You really have been out of the loop haven’t you?” Chris asked. “We’re getting a divorce. It’s all over the tabloids.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry. What happened?” Darren had heard rumors, but had never thought any of it were real. Not when he had been witness to the happiness in Chris’ eyes on the night of their engagement party.

Chris waved away the apology. “There are some lessons you never learn,” he said wryly. “Who’d think that at thirty I’d still be looking at affection in all the wrong places?”

“Shut up, you’re perfect.”

“Not to him,” Chris scoffed, with a trace of bitterness.

“Maybe it was him who wasn’t perfect for you,” Darren said, his eyes soft.

The smile that Chris gave him was small but tender. Darren returned it with a smile of his own. He had almost forgotten how easy it was to be around Chris, the energy that drew them together had been a haven. Comfortable and unassuming.

“Darren!” A loud voice with a thick French accent broke the moment. Darren shot Chris an apologetic look as a small, dark haired woman walked up to him and slapped his arm.

“You think it would be considerate to tell the waiter where you were going so I don’t come back to find you gone?” She scolded him in rapid French. “You keep running off like a stray dog and I swear I’m going to leave and let you find your own way home. “

“I know how to get home, Sophie.” Darren interrupted her, mindful that Chris was looking both amused and a little bit wary of the scene she was making. The tourists were already looking over at them. They might not have recognized Darren, but they were sure to recognize Chris.

“Sophie, this is Chris.” He added before she could restart her tirade.

Darren hoped Chris didn’t notice the look of recognition that passed over Sophie’s face that had nothing to do with Chris’ fame. Successfully distracted from her ire, she pulled a surprised Chris into a quick hug.

“I’ve heard so many things about Darren’s friends,” she said, giving Darren a sly grin.

Darren shot her a glare in response.

Oblivious to their exchange, Chris smiled politely at Sophie. “Only good things, I hope.”

“Very, very good things. You should come over for dinner,” Sophie told him. “This boy has sampled all of my grandmother’s recipes. Even knows how to cook half of them.”

“You guys live together?” Chris asked, looking from Sophie to Darren.

“We’re roommates,” Darren explained. “I didn’t want to stay at a hotel and Sophie was a make-up artist in my last movie.”

“As long as there’s authentic French food. I’ll be there.” Chris said, giving Sophie a more genuine smile He checked his watch. “I have a business meeting in an hour, but I can probably be there by eight?”

“That is perfect,” Sophie said, before Darren could answer. “We’ll see you then.”

Darren gave Chris his local number and directions to their apartment. They walked out of the bakery to find Tom waiting outside with Chris’ rental. Darren gave Tom a quick hello before enveloping Chris in another hug.

It wasn’t as long as the last one, both were aware that cameras might no longer be trailing Darren but they would surely be on Chris. Still, Darren couldn’t resist. He allowed himself to sink into Chris’ arms, burying his face against his neck and breathing him in.

He let him go and Chris gave Sophie a hug before getting in the car, with a final wave. Darren and Sophie walked towards the opposite direction once the car pulled away.

“He is the boy you were madly in love with." Sophie said, a mischievous twinkle in the deep green of her eyes.

Darren ducked his head, the memory of a drunken confession about a hidden love coloring his cheeks.

“What was the thing you loved most about him?” Sophie laughed, linking their arms together. “Ah! ‘I would make him laugh and it felt like the sun had come out after a bleak midwinter’ said the drunk American who would not stop singing.”

“It’s complicated,” Darren replied easily in French. Almost a year in the city and the language flowed from his mouth like melted chocolate. ”He’s getting a divorce.”

Sophie clicked her tongue in annoyance. “You stayed away because he was getting married.”

“ _Oui._ ”

“But he no longer is.”

“ _Oui._ ”

“And he’s 'ere now.”

“Yes,” Darren said with a shocked happy laugh he couldn’t contain.

“Have you learned nothing from your stay in Paris,  _mon ami_?” she scolded him. “There are no coincidences in the city of love!”

They turned a street corner and the skyline fell into view. The skies were painted with orange and purple. A breathtaking scene by anybody’s standards. Paris in twilight was beautiful but it had never felt like home. Not until now, when the one person he had been avoiding was suddenly in his city.

Darren wondered if he was ready. If his 32 year old self would be able to do what his 25 year old self couldn’t. If a chance still existed for him even though he had let go of so many in the past. If Sophie was right and the city was weaving it’s magic into Darren’s life.

They passed a man playing a guitar next to a café. Under her breath, he heard Sophie repeat the lyrics the man was singing.

Darren smiled and sang the same line into the night.

_“I’m ready to take the fall.”_


End file.
